Handle and latch operating means for doors



2 Sheets-Sheet l m m u a 6 N u L l E A r R 4 F m M v H z w 3 q. 2 W Mm :iiiiii.I! K M m PM J M R 2 F ATTORNEY J. o. CHITTUM ETAL HANDLEAND LATCH OPERATING MEANS FOR DOORS Filed Nov. 2o,v 1956 July- 22, 1958 J. o. CHITTUM ETAL HANDLE AND LATCH OPERATING MEANS FOR DOORS Filed Nov. 20, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY United States Patent 2O HANDLE AND LATCH OPERATING MEANS FOR DOORS Jack 0. Chittum and Frank s. Fitzgerald, Miami, Fla.

Application November 20, 1956, Serial No. 623,405

7 Claims. (CI. 70-97) This invention relates to a flush mounting lock and handle for use on horizontal sliding doors, more specifically for use on narrow stile sliding doors.

Sliding doors have been used for many years and it has been common practice to provide recessed finger grip means mounted flush with the door stile, and also to provide a locking means for such door. These known means, however, have been of such design that they could not be used except on doors having heavy stiles.

In recent years architectural design has required the installation of glass sliding doors where it is particularly desirable that the stiles be of the very minimum size, both as to width and thickness.

It is an object of the present invention toprovide a novel completely flush mounting recessed handle or finger grip carrying a lock and a latch operating means for a sliding door.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro-' vide such a device which is inexpensive to manufacture, efiicient in operation, and which is pleasing in appearance, being made as a unitaryhandle or finger grip by which the door latch may be operated.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference designate similar elements in the several views and in which:

Figure 1 is a general view of a sliding door showing the flush mounting lock and latch operating handle in place.

a Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 4 showing the structure of the latch element, actuating handle, and lock.

Figure 3 is a rearview of one of the handle elements.

Figure 4 is an elevation partly in section of the device.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the strikerplate.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation of the outside handle. v

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 of the inside handle.

Figure 8 showsthe handle mounting aperture in-a door stile, and the lock stop.

Figure 9 is a section taken on line 99 of Figure 7.

As is seen in the drawing, a door 10 slides in the door jamb 11 and is mounted on any conventional means, such as rollers, to assure that the door will operate easily. Appropriate weather stripping may be included in the structure. of metal which is a popular material for use in residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings. These doors are made from extruded aluminum elements which make it possible to provide light and rigid frames for glass doors. It will be seen, however, that the device of the presentinvention may also be used with doors having a conventional wooden frame.

As seen in Figure 8, the door is provided with an oblong aperture 12 extending entirely through vertical stile 13 adjacent the edge of the door 14. A pair of handle ele- The frame of door 10 is illustrated as being 'ice 2 4 ments 15 each including a plate portion 19, a finger grip portion 16 formed as a recess or depression in plate portion 19, and provided on the reverse side with bosses 17 and 18 which extend rearwardly from the plate portion 19 at least as far as the recessed finger grip 16.

It will be noted that the bosses 17 and 18 on one element 15 abut the corresponding bosses on the element 15 on the opposite side of the door, and the two elements are secured together by screws 17', 18 extending from the handle element 15 on the inner side of the door, into the bosses 17 or 18 on the element 15 on the outer side of the door. Since doors will be of difierent thicknesses, it will at once be seen that the elements 15 of the present invention can be made to fit closely, yet slidingly, against the surface of the door by adjusting the length of the bosses 17 and 18 as required, as by means of a hack saw, file, etc. Elements 15 may be made with their bosses of a height to accommodate the thickest standard door so it is unnecessary to provide additional dies to accommodate thinner doors.

Also provided on each of these elements 15, preferably adjacent bosses 17 and 18, are actuating lugs 20.

At one end of recessed finger grip portion 16 on one of said elements 15 is a second recess 21 having a central aperture through which a rotatable shaft 22 extends. A small bar or grip 23 is mounted on, and may in fact be formed integral with, shaft 22. Shaft 22 and grip 23 are for use in connection with locking the device from the inside against unauthorized opening of the sliding door.

The other element 15 includes an aperture 24 in cover plate portion 19 which, when the two elements 15 are mounted back to back with bosses 17 and 18 abutting each other, is in alignment with shaft 22. A lock device, such as a conventional lock cylinder 25, is mounted in aperture 24.

Across the bottom of aperture 12 there is located a lockstop 26.

Mounted on a squared portion of shaft 22 is a lock plate 27, from one side of which extends a stop element 28. By rotation of grip 23 the stop element 28. may be placed in alignment with aperture 12 in which the elements 15 are mounted so as to bear against lock-stop 26 to prevent movement of elements 15 in aperture 12, and by reverse movement of grip 23,.the stop element 28 may be swung to one side to permit movement of elements 15 in aperture 12. It will be noted that aperture 12 is of such a length as to permit suflicient movement of elements 15 when the stop element 28 is in unlocked position to actuate a bolt 29.

Bolt 29 is mounted Within the door stile adjacent the edge surface 14 of stile 13 so that there is no projection on the edge of the door. The edge of the door, when in closed position, extends into a recessed vertical jamb in the door frame. A striker or keeper element 30 is mounted in the recess of the door jamb by means of an adjustable plate 31 which includes slots 32 whereby the plate 31 may be vertically adjusted and held in place by screws 33. Keeper element 30 is T shaped and includes a threaded portion 34, which is screwed in a threaded opening in plate 31, whereby the location of the keeper with relation to the bolt 29 when in closed position may be accurately adjusted. A jamb nut 35 may be used to lock keeper 30 in adjusted position.

Bolt 29 is biased into locking position by a spring 36 which is sufficiently strong to normally hold elements 15 in elevated position against the top end of aperture 12. Bolt 29 contacts the elements 15 by means of projection 37 at its lower end which extends sufliciently inwardly from the edge of the door to engage one of the actuating lugs 20.

From Figure 2 it will be seen that when the door is 3 slid to closed position, the keeper 30 will engage a surface 38 of bolt 29 and will cam it downwardly so that it will pass to a position behind keeper 30, and the door will be retained in closed position untilbolt 29 is retracted. Bolt 29 may be retracted if grip 23 is turned so that stop element 28 will not engage the lock stop 26.

The door then is readily operated by inserting fingers into grip portion 16 and pressing downwardly, which moves elements downwardly and as an actuating lug 20 contacts projection 37, bolt 29 is moved downwardly against the spring 36 until bolt 29 is free of keeper 30. The door may then he slid into open position.

If grip 23 is turned so that stop element 28 extends downwardly to lock the door, the door may not be opened if bolt 29 is behind keeper 30. However, under this condition if the door is open it may be placed in closed and locked position because as the bolt 29 cams under keeper 30, the projection 37 is free to move away from actuating lug 20.

In order that the door may be locked or unlocked from the outside with a key, the lock plate 27 is provided with a semicircular aperture, or slot 39, concentric with shaft 22 and lock cylinder 25, and on lock cylinder there is mounted an element 40 having a pin 41 extending into slot 39. By insertion of the key in the lock cylinder, element 40 may be rotated a half a revolution in either direction. Itv will be seen therefore, that from the lock position shown in Figure 2 a half revolution turn of the key in the clockwise direction will turn the lock plate 27 a quarter turn to unlocked position, and upon turning the key anti-clockwise the lock plate 27 may be rotated again into locking position. The key may, of course, be withdrawn from the lock to leave the device in the desired condition. It will be noted that the door may be locked and unlocked from the outside by key only. The door may be locked and unlocked readily from the inside by the use of grip 23.,

It will be noted that the two handle elements 15 are symmetrical and may therefore be used on doors of either hand. Also it will be noted that there are four lugs 20 on each handle element 15. This is desirable as it gives greater latitude in locating the bolt and each handle element for each installation.

It will also be noted that different length bolts 29 may be used. While the device is shown and described as th h dl being mounted on the other side of said requiring a downward movement pull panel, it may equally well be installed to require an upward motion.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been described above, it will be understood that changes and modifications in design, structure, and details may be .made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Latch operating means for a door comprising a portion, a pair of spacing bosses extending rearwardly from said plate portion at each end of said finger grip portion for insertion into said recess and securing means mounted in said bosses to secure said latch operating means to a complementary member mounted on the other side of said stile whereby said latch operating means may be accurately spaced to slidingly engage said stile.

2. Latch operating means for a door comprising a pair of handles for mounting on each side of a door stile, each said handle including a plate portion, a finger grip portion formed as a depression extending into the surface of each said plate portion, a pair of spacing 4 bosses extending rearwardly from each said plate portion for abutment against the corresponding bosses on the other of said handle, and securing means for mounting in said bosses to secure said handles together whereby said handle plate portions are accurately spaced to slidingly engage said stile.

3. The latch operating means of claim 2 in which said bosses are of a length greater than required whereby the distance between said plate portions maybe accurately adjusted when installed on a door.

in said stile, a pair of handle means for mounting one on each side of said stile and including a plate portion to cover said aperture, each of said handle means including also a depressed finger grip portion and a pair of bosses so positioned as to extend into said aperture, the bosses on one said handle means being in abutting relation with the pair of bosses on the other said handle means, securing means mounted in said bosses securing said handle plates together and in sliding relation to said stile, and means extending from at least one of said handle means into said stile to engage. and operate a bolt element upon sliding of said handle means in said aperture.

5. The device of claim 4 in which rotatable means are mounted on said handle means adjacent one end of said finger grip portions, and having means accessible on the surface of said handle means for rotation thereof, said rotatable means being so constructed and arranged that when rotated to one position, sliding movement of said handle means with respect to said stile is prevented, and'when rotated to another position, sliding movement of said handle means is permitted.

6. In a door having a stile, a latch element mounted in said stile, and operable in a direction parallel to the length of the stile, an elongated aperture in said stile parallel to said latch element, a lug mounted on said latch element for operating said latch element extending into said elongated aperture, combination handle and latch operating means mounted for sliding movement relative to said aperture, said combination means com prising a pair of handles, each handle including a plate portion, one handle being mounted on one side and the stile so said plate portions will cover said aperture, each handle having a recessed finger portion and a pair of bosses extending into and slidable within said elongated aperture, the bosses on one said handle being in abutting relation to the bosses on the other said handle, securing means mounted in said bosses to secure said handles together, and means extending rearwardly from at least one of said handles to engage said lug upon sliding of said handle means in said aperture whereby said latch element is operated.

7. The device of claim 6 in which rotatable means are mounted on said handle and latch operating means adjacent one end of said finger grip portions, means accessible on the surface of said handle and latch operating means for rotation thereof, said rotatable means being so constructed and arranged that when rotated to one position, sliding movement of said handle and latch operating means with respect to said stile is prevented,

., and when rotated to another position, sliding movement of said handle and latch operating means is permitted.

Manny Sept. 15, 1925 Malicki Dec. 14, 1926 

